Forra Gegen
Professor Forra Gegen, Gegen for short, was a Voth molecular paleontologist and member of the Circle of Archeology who at one point was considered one of his species' most venerable scientists. Later in life, he was accused of heresy and reassigned as a metallurgical scientist. Starting in the 2360s, he worked on the controversial Distant Origin Theory, which contended, contrary to doctrine, that the Voth did not originate in the space they occupied, but evolved in some other part of the galaxy and traveled there later. To protect him in this dangerous pursuit, he relied on a network of supporters, in the Circle of Archeology and on the Fourth Colony. Shortly before his trial, he circulated a study criticizing what he called "resistance to truth", which the Voth Ministry of Elders viewed as disputing official doctrine. In 2373, Gegen had a breakthrough when he discovered the bones of a humanoid, Crewman Hogan, whose genetic makeup bore compelling similarities to his own, on Hanon IV. He was able to determine that the bones came from the ship , which then he tracked down. He and a trusted assistant, Tova Veer to which he was a mentor, boarded under cloak and studied the crew until they were discovered. Veer was captured while Gegen abducted Chakotay, who had been knocked out by Veer. Chakotay helped Gegen find more evidence for his theory. Chakotay went with Gegen back to the Voth city ship to present his evidence. The Voth Ministry of Elders did not look kindly upon the new evidence, and charged the professor with heresy. In this trial it became clear that Gegen had come to believe that the ministry did not care about the truth, and was only interested in perpetuating a myth that kept them in power. Minister Odala tried to force Gegen to retract his claims. Veer was threatened, and he recanted and denounced Professor Gegen; Gegen firmly believed that the younger scientist was forced into it, and so did not assign him any blame. Gegen refused to retract his theories until Odala threatened to imprison the crew of Voyager for life and destroy the ship. Having been unable to meet up with his supporters on the Fourth Colony, Gegen was too weak and had to submit. He was relieved of duty and reassigned to a job as a metallurgical scientist, a career in which he felt he would be undistinguished as he admitted to not be very good at chemistry. However, as Chakotay departed Gegen's ship, he gave his friend a globe of Earth, and Gegen expressed his wish that, someday, all Voth would call Earth "home". Forra Gegen had a daughter, Frola, whom Veer was interested in. She once noted that mathematics was not one of Gegen's strong suits. ( ) |Gegen's treatment at the hands of the Ministry of Elders parallels that of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Church in the 17th century.|The character's name Gegen is the German word for "against" or "opposing".}} cs:Forra Gegen de:Forra Gegen nl:Forra Gegen sv:Forra Gegen Category:Voth Category:Scientists